I saw the midnight showing of Spider-Man 3 last night, which was entertaining and a bit tiring. I’ve been feeling tired most of today, but I think it was worth it. Now, to get on my soapbox for a little bit.

I’ve been following this story about this student in Texas who was weeks away from graduating from Clements High School was expelled for having created a Counter-Strike map based on the layout of his high school. For those not in the know, Counter-Strike is a first-person-shooter computer game where you can play as a soldier in a terrorist situation (either as a good or bad guy). Like most PC games of its type, Counter-Strike allows players to make their own levels with an editor.

To some degree, this is ridiculous. The fact that the punishment given to this kid: police detainment, a search of his house and computer, being expelled from school (or at least being moved to an “alternative education center,” not being able to graduate, and being treated as a potential killer is beyond anything he should have to endure for simply being technically savvy enough to create a map using the level editor of Counter-Strike.

Here’s the order of events as far as I can figure it out: kid creates the level, shares it with some friends, a parent of one of the friends sees it and calls the school. The school looks up the kid’s website, finds the map, deems it a “threat” and call the police. The school immediately removes him from the school and the police investigate. Here’s the catch – it seems like the police used their common sense. The story details how the police talked to the kid in a rational manner, and the kid admitted that in light of recent events, he could see how the map could be construed in a manner he had not intended. He then deleted the map and said he would never make a map of a school or public place again. The police decided, at that point, not to press charges.

So why is the school still convinced this kid is dangerous? Why did an emergency board meeting called by the school board fall through because they couldn’t meet quorum when 4 board members simply didn’t show up? Is it because he’s Chinese, like the Virginia Tech student? Is it because it was Counter-Strike, a game that was initially and mistakenly attributed as a game the Virginia Tech student played (although later investigation found this to be false)?

In many ways, this story kind of hits close to home. I play games, and I’m sure that I talked to my friends in high school about how awesome it would be if we could make a Doom 2 map of our school that we could deathmatch on. I’m not in high school anymore, and it was possibly a different time back then, but this kid could have been me. He did nothing wrong (confirmed by the police dropping charges after talking to him and searching his home), and yet he’s been branded as dangerous and removed from his school. Sure, his timing couldn’t be worse, but I’m sure that talking-to he got from the police helped.

To sum up, I wish we lived in a slightly different world. Where taking the time and creative effort to create a Counter-Strike map was equated to taking the time and effort to create a Google SketchUp model, and not with preparing to kill a bunch of fellow students. I wish more of the school board members could understand why the police investigation ended up like it did. Most of all, I wish we could bridge the communication gap between those of us who play and love video and computer games and those who are afraid of them and see them as habits of dangerous people without it turning into an argument.